Background Simulation Basics
What is the Background Simulation? The Background Simulation (referred to as BGS) in Elite: Dangerous is best described as the "nuts and bolts" of the game. It, as the name suggests, works in the background to control everything that happens in any given colonized star system and throughout civilized space ("colonized" is defined as any star system where a minor faction is present, either player or NPC, or both). It controls commodity prices, availability, quantity, legality, outfitting availability (to a limited degree), shipyard (to a very limited degree), faction states and influence levels (more on this later), and pretty much everything that happens in the game. Veterans of the game have seen this in action at community goals, with them being disrupted by "lockdown" states. Even the infamous "UA bombing" is handled by the BGS. To work with the BGS effectively, there are a few of basic concepts that you need to understand: * What a minor faction is, and the difference between that and a major faction * What influence is * Faction states and how they affect things Eventually, well move on to how to move influence, change states, etc., but first you need to know what it is you're actually trying to work with. What is a minor faction? To understand this, first we need to clarify the various types of factions or sovereign entities in the game. They fall into three categories: * Superpower * major faction * minor faction Superpowers and major factions These are best grouped together as they both fall under the same overall category: Power Play. This is a feature that was added into the game several months after it was initially released. As I stated in the introduction, Elite: Dangerous is a work in progress. It is a released and fully playable game, however there are updates being added into the game that add new features or tweak existing mechanics. The game is expected to be updated for the foreseeable future, and Frontier Developments initially created a "10 year plan" for this game, so expect things to change. We're not going to go too much into power play here, as it is a different animal completely with mechanics all of its own. It's only going to be addressed in as much as it effects the BGS. One major distinction between superpowers and major factions from minor factions is that superpowers and major factions control and work with vast swathes or regions of space, doing relatively little at the individual star systems themselves (other than what's required for power play mechanics) compared to minor factions that work entirely at the individual star system, working in one or in some cases several or even dozens of individual star systems, each star system requiring attention as time goes on and the situation in each star system evolves over time, and down to individual facilities like starports and outposts. Superpowers and major factions do little to no work with individual facilities. Superpowers Under powerplay, at the top level, we start with the superpowers. These are the behemoth entities in the game that are by far the most influential and powerful in the game, and generally control anywhere from ~300 to 600 star systems or more. There are 3 superpowers in the game: Federation, Empire, and Alliance. These are especially important in regards to the BGS as minor factions can align themselves with any of the above superpowers valid for the region of space they're in, or remain independent. This may have certain bonuses or drawbacks depending on what superpower a minor faction is aligned with, or if they're independent. Additionally, it can determine what government types have bonuses to BGS in their region of space. For example, a minor faction with the government type of Patronage would have bonuses to influence gains in space that's generally imperial aligned, and Independent factions get bonuses in Alliance aligned space. The superpower alignment of any particular region of space has little to do with power play itself, and more to do with the general "sphere of influence" of each superpower. Generally speaking, this is most easily determined by seeing what superpower the minor factions tend to be aligned with in any particular star system, or region of space. Technically, superpowers can be considered major factions, however due to the fragmentation within the powers major factions will be defined as the leaders of the "sub-powers" in the game. It just seemed to make sense and be easier that way. Major factions Major factions are another component of power play. There are, at the time of writing this, 11 major factions in Elite: Dangerous. I'm not going to go too much into detail here as to who they are specifically, as they are not entirely relevant for this topic. Major factions are at the "second level" of power in the game. Most simply put, they're the faces you see when you click open the power play screen/menu. Additionally, if you go into the galaxy map and select Power Play from the map view menu, they are the "bubbles" you see on the map that make up the main "bubble" that is the heart of human civilization in the game. Each major faction controls several bubbles, some more than others. Some, but not all, major factions are aligned with a superpower. Currently, there are two Federation aligned major factions, four Imperial aligned major factions, 1 Alliance aligned major faction, and 4 independent major factions. Each major faction has its own bonuses and drawbacks, for example discounted ships and outfitting in space controlled by Li Yong Rui. One major distinction of major factions is that they're displayed by the name of the head of the particular major faction. For example Aisling Duval, Zachary Hudson, and Li Yong Rui. Superpower aligned major factions are simply the major faction head aligned with their respective superpower, such as Aisling Duval being Imperial or Zachary Hudson being Federation. Additionally, Independent major factions may have their own name for their power, such as Li Yong Rui being "Sirius Corporation" or Pranav Antal being the leader of "Utopia", although some just go by their name and no special name for their sovereignty such as Archon Delaine or Yuri Grom. You cannot align with a superpower in the game as a player, which leaves aligning or "pledging" oneself to a particular major faction as the most favored option for players choosing to play as a power for role play or other purposes. Minor Factions This is the main topic of this article and the level at which the BGS really comes in to play. Minor factions work at the individual star system. They're the ones you see on the mission boards offering missions, in the system map information panel, the system status on the right panel of your starship, or faction status summary under starport services. You'll also see minor faction NPC's flying around in space, and the name of the minor faction they're a part of is displayed after targeting and scanning an NPC. You will never see NPC's aligned specifically to a Superpower or Major Faction, however an NPC can be a part of a faction that is aligned to a superpower or representative of a particular major faction (such as Aisling's Angels allegiance being specifically to Aisling Duval, every major faction has at least one minor faction like this). Minor factions really do all the legwork in game, as minor factions, unlike major factions and superpowers, also control individual facilities such as starports and outposts. Every normal facility in this game is controlled by a minor faction of some kind. I specify "normal facility" because (although i'm not 100% certain) there may be "special" facilities in this game placed in by the developers for various reasons that may have no minor faction alignment, although I can't think of any right now. What minor faction controls a facility can determine how productive it is, what is available on the commodities market, legality of certain commodities at that port, and even what services are available. It can even determine what minor faction controls the star system and therefore the ownership of the authority vessels flying around, and control of the shipping lanes, legality of commodities in a particular star system as a whole, and other things. Minor factions can either only be present in one star system, or may be present in or control several star systems. This is all handled through the BGS using mechanics that will be discussed in further detail later on.Category:Background Simulation Category:BGS Basics Category:Elite: Dangerous